In a striking statement that seems to further align Trump with Putin, the incoming U.S. president tweeted that he agreed with the Russian leader’s assessment that Clinton and the Democratic Party generally have not shown “dignity” following widespread losses in the November election.

Trump’s expressed admiration of Putin came only hours after he released to the media a warm letter the Russian sent him. The Friday night tweet sparked cries of alarm from former U.S. officials and other Trump critics on social media.

President Trump has called nuclear weapons "the single greatest problem the world has" – but he's also made some controversial statements about them. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

In Putin’s letter, dated Dec. 15, the Russian leader wrote that he hopes he and Trump can act “in a constructive and pragmatic manner” following the Jan. 20 inauguration. Trump was pleased with the correspondence, saying in a statement Friday, “A very nice letter from Vladimir Putin; his thoughts are so correct.”

Trump has long spoken admiringly of Putin and what he considers the Russian president’s strong leadership qualities. Some of Trump’s incoming advisers have past connections to Putin and the Russian government, including Rex Tillerson, the secretary of state nominee, and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, the White House national security adviser designee.

Trump has so far rejected the conclusions of the CIA, FBI and other U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia intervened in the 2016 campaign in part to help Trump secure the White House. The agencies believe Russia is responsible for the hacking of Democratic National Committee emails as well as the private emails of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.

Philip Rucker is the White House Bureau Chief for The Washington Post. He previously has covered Congress, the Obama White House, and the 2012 and 2016 presidential campaigns. Rucker also is a Political Analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. He joined The Post in 2005 as a local news reporter.